Heretofore, 4'-demethyl-epipodophyllotoxin-.beta.-D-ethylidene glycoside (generally referred to as etoposide) has been known as a compound having antitumor activity (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,844).
The etoposide mentioned above exhibits an excellent anti-tumor activity but because of its extremely low solubility, considerable difficulty is currently involved in its administration to humans whether by injection or by oral route.